How to Give a Hamster Treats

All of the five species of pet hamsters, the Syrian and four dwarf species, seem perpetually hungry. They are not. They possess an instinctive urge to hoard food in small stashes in order to eat through lean times. However, pet hamsters do not realize that they will be fed on a regular basis. Overfeeding pet hamsters leads to obesity, potential heart failure, and in the case of Russian dwarf hamsters, possible diabetes. So, only give your hamster treats occasionally.

Instructions

    • 1

      Choose healthy hamster treats. Hamsters will eat any food they come across, whether it is healthy or not, so it only makes sense to feed them healthy treats. Commercially made hamster treats are available at pet stores and some grocery stores. Fresh fruits, herbs and vegetables need to be washed to remove any traces of pesticides. These include broccoli, baby carrot, cored apples, pears, seedless grapes, blueberries, chestnuts, water chestnuts, peas, cauliflower, mango, melon, figs, pitted cherries, banana, parsley, sage basil, peach, turnip, mung beans and ksweet potato. Good fresh protein sources include live mealworms sold for reptile food, cooked white chicken meat, sunflower seeds and hard-boiled egg, according to "Hamsters."

    • 2

      Chop or break treat into tiny pieces, preferably smaller than your thumbnail. Hamsters fill up quickly. They will immediately eat when they are hungry and then stuff the rest in their cheek pouches for later. If the hamster begins stuffing its cheek pouches with the treat, then next time feed them smaller treats. Feeding only very a small piece of a new treat also avoids digestive upsets like diarrhea, according to "Hamsters."

    • 3

      Combine treats with exercise or training. One way to hand-tame a hamster, especially a Syrian, is to place the treat on the palm of your hand and leave the hand still on the cage floor. Stay still until the hamster takes the treat. Roborovski hamsters often cannot be hand-tamed, but treats can be wrapped in plain white paper and left in hidden parts of the cage. The hamsters will exercise by searching for the treat and ripping apart the paper.

    • 4

      Remove any fresh foods in a few hours or if it begins to smell. Spoiled food can breed harmful bacteria for the hamster. The hamster may also bury treats in bedding contaminated by feces and urine.